Civilians shall
not stand trial before military courts except for crimes that harm the Armed
Forces. The law shall define such crimes and determine the other
competencies of the Military Judiciary.

Not only does the article clearly leave broad discretion for military courts to try civilians but it is
purposely vague, leaving all options open for legislation, without in any
way limiting the military justice system’s overly broad jurisdiction as set out
in the existing law, the Code of Military Justice. The Code of Military Justice
allows for civilians to be tried if one of the parties involved is a military
officer or if the crime takes place in an area where the military is deployed. This has allowed for unfair trials of civilians for acts as inconsequential “insulting” a
military officer. A more recent and striking example is that of the trial of twenty five residents of Qurasaya island on charges that included encroaching on army-owned
property and being present in a military zone. Charges that directly contradict a
civilian court ruling from the Court of Administrative Justice in 2008 (case
no. 782/62), affirming the island residents' legal right to live on the island
and farm it [read more].

The draft constitution is worse than the 1971 constitution
with regard to the military trials of civilians since the previous constitution did not engage with the matter, and far worse than the 1954 constitution – in which article No. 20 absolutely prohibited the trial of
civilians before military courts or exceptional courts. Article 198 of the
newly proposed constitution effectively embeds the military justice system’s
right to continue to try civilians, making any further legislative reform
unlikely.

And just in case the legislative body actually decides to
protect civilians from the injustice of military tribunals, article 197 ensures
that the armed forces will continue to retain influence over any legislation
related to the military via the National Defense Council which includes the
Minister of Defense, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, the Commander of
the Navy, the Air Forces and Air Defense, the Chief of Operations for the Armed
Forces and the Head of Military Intelligence, among others. Article 197 states:

The Council is
responsible for matters pertaining to the methods of ensuring the safety and
security of the country and to the budget of the Armed Forces. It shall be
consulted about draft laws related to the Armed Forces. Other competencies are
to be defined by law.

What presidency representatives also fail to explain in
their press release is that an earlier draft of the constitution had an article
(similar to that of the 1954 constitution) that clearly prohibited any military
trials for civilians without any exceptions:

No person shall
be tried except before their natural judge; exceptional courts are prohibited.
No civilian may face military trial.

Excerpt of article 63 –Nov 11thdraft

The phrase “No civilian may face military trial” was removed from later drafts, to be replaced by article 198 in
its present form.

It should also be noted that this is not an isolated lie.
The presidency tries to sell the new constitution as being a ‘progressive’ one
when it is anything but. For a primer at how this constitution endangers
human rights please refer to HRW
report on the matter.

This comes after a revolution that called for bread, freedom and social justice and after a year in which 12,000 civilians were unjustly put through military trials.

Though they are striving for the appearance of legitimacy through this constitution our struggle against the military trial of civilians will continue. As will our revolution.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

We sent out a call for people to write and tweet today to support us in our struggle to end Military trials of civilians.

You can see contributions from all over the world on twitter under the hashtag #StopSCAF

On that occasion we republish testimonies, documented at El Nadeem center, of torture by the army in the first weeks of our revolution. Help us expose them, help us tell the stories of the survivors :

Diaries of citizens under military rule

Student, 18 years old (3 Feb – 10 Feb) Met on 11 February

I was arrested on Thursday the 3rd of February with many others. They locked us up on the museum and then blindfolded us and put us in microbuses and took us to an unknown place, then they told us this is the intelligence building in Madinet Nasr. There they stripped us, beat us and whipped us. I was suspended from my feet for two days. They were asking me if I was with Baradei, with Muslim Brotherhood, with Mortada Mansour. Then they took us, still blindfolded, to the military prison. They stripped us again and made us sleep face down and beat and whipped us. There was a lawyer in his forties. His name is Osama. They beat him until he died> (Identified later as Osama Abdel Moneim Allam, MB lawyer, his body was delivered to his family on the 17th of February). There was also a blind man and they beat him brutally. A young man called Karim Amer was with us also and was released on the same day like me. An officer, his name is Ashraf, brought an electric wire and told me to hold it with both hands or else he will put it to my tongue and my genitals. I held it and flew in the air and fell. I was released yesterday (10th of February) (Examined by El Nadim).

Pupil, 15 years old from Helwan (10 Feb – 28 Feb) Met 1st of March

I was coming from Sharkeyya on the 10th of Feb at 4 a.m. with my dad. We were in front of the Fateh mosque in Ramsis. We were on our way home after we failed to visit my sister because of the curfew. It was 4 a.m. My father went to get some food. There was nobody around us, only two more people. Four tall people came, wearing sunglasses, dressed in black, the glass of their car was grey. They carried weapons and beat us with the back of the gun, the three of us. They blindfolded us and kept beating us. We all fainted. They put us in a car. WE drove for a long time. They took us to a place called ward 1, a group of cells. Adults were put 2 in each cell and the young 3 in each cell. They made us rum while they whipped us, they beat us with their hands as well. There were two rows of soldiers who would extend their legs so that we trip and fall. Then they would beat us again. Then two tall people came again with sun glasses, they would put electric wires onto us for half a minute and then rest of a few minutes and then repeat. The first three days they only used obscenities. No food, no water, no toilets. Then we got a piece of cheese and half a loaf of baladi bread in the late afternoon. That was the food. How would they wake us up? They would shoot in the air from the beginning of the ward. WE woke up to the sound of shooting bullets every day. The second week they would throw gas canisters and shoot at the ceiling of the ward. They beat us with sticks. They removed the blindfolded after 3 days. The walls were black and a small window 20 x 20 cm. the cell was small not enough for three people to sleep next to each other. A new person joined us in the cell near by. Don’t remember what time. He told us we are in Abdeen palace. Third week they kept telling us you have put the country on fire. We were 100 or less. I was the youngest. I had no ID. I gave them my school ID. I was released yesterday (28 Feb) after midnight. The father has not returned yet.

Five citizens from Mansoura (3 Feb – 10 Feb) Met on 20th of February

Five victims of torture in military custody from the province of Dahaqliya. All 5 men (except for number 2) filed a complaint and do not object to their names being published in connection with the torture allegations. Accountant, 47; Owner of small construction factory, 32; primary school teacher, 46; pharmacist, 32; and secondary school teacher, 43. The five were part of a group 17 men from the same village in Dahaqliya who came to join the protests on 3 February. They were confronted by more than 100 armed pro-Mubarak activists – who apparently included security forces in plain clothes – in the area of Saptiya (near Maspiro). The group from Dahaqliya asked to be handed over to the army. Two of the group managed to escape. The remaining 15 people were handed over at a nearby army checkpoint to Special Forces (Quwat Khassa) in plain clothes. There was no military police visible. The group was blindfolded and handcuffed. Later they were taken into a vehicle. They were threatened to be shot and that they will never see their families again. They thought they will be executed. The group was pushed but not beaten or otherwise ill-treated until this moment. All 15 were taken to the Mukhabarat Askariya in Nasser City. They remained at the Mukhabarat Askeriya from Thursday (3 February) until Saturday (5 February). Their testimonies:

- We were blindfolded when taken to and during interrogations. Interrogators asked about our political affiliation and links with the protests. I denied that I was taking part in the protests. I was threatened to be raped or killed. However, I was not beaten. We were kept in an outside area and as it rained we got wet

- I was interrogated together with 4 or 5 other detainees. Although I was blindfolded I knew there were several of us. The interrogator asked: what were you doing in Cairo? When I responded that I was on my way to the demonstration I was slapped in the face. The interrogator said: You belong to the Muslim Brothers. When I denied this I was slapped in the face again. The interrogator said: You should not lie. We talked to your brothers who admitted to belong to the Muslim Brothers. The interrogator asked: who pays you money to go to the demonstration. I said that it was my won decision to join the protests. When I was interrogated a second time I had to sign a testimony which I was not allowed to read. (NOTE: The blindfold was lifted just enough to make him see were to sign.

- The day before we were transferred, 22 detainees were called – including 6 from our group of 15 and were later released. We remaining 9 were called to collect our belongings (money and phones etc) and had to sign a receipt. Then our belongings were taken from us again. We were blindfolded and handcuffed. They put us in a group with others into a civilian vehicle – inside it looked like a freezer for transporting food. It had no windows and only a small van. We were driven to an unknown location which we later learned to be the military prison in Heikstep. The drive took about 1 hour. When we arrived soldiers took off our blindfold and handcuffs. We were ordered to take our clothes off – except for our shorts and to lie on the ground. There were about 30 soldiers – including from the Sa’iqa brigade – who were beating us while we were lying face down on the ground. They beat us with whips, belts, plastic cables and used tasers to give us electric shocks. The commander blew the whistle to make the soldiers start and stop the beating. The beating session lasted for about 45 minutes. We were told to line up to enter the prison block. While we were walking into the prison block we were beaten and tasers were used as well. After entering our prison block we had to stand in the courtyard where we were beaten by about 3 soldiers wearing uniforms. Some of us were in a terrible state. After about 1 hour we were told to dress and taken into our cells. The cells were overcrowded. Those with injuries were allowed to see the prison doctor for treatment.

- On 7 February we were taken to the military prosecutor for interrogation

- On 9 February we were brought before the military court who told us we would be sentenced for breaking the curfew and that the verdict would be pronounced on 12 February – however, we were released before that date.

- On 10 February at about 15.30 we were released. There were about 500 detainees released the same afternoon. we were driven in army vehicles outside the premises of the military camp in Heikstep and left on the road Cairo – Suez.

Ain Shams University Student (28 January – 16 Feb)

On the 28th of January, I and another person (who could not come with me today) were in a car along the cornice. We were stopped by a popular committee and they checked the licenses. We drove a little and they attacked us. We could not foresee this. They destroyed the car. We were taken by army officers in a small truck and handcuffed us behind our backs. We arrived at Qobri El Qobba (investigations). They said you’ll stay only for half an hour and then we will let you go. I said I was a student. Behind me stood a man who stabbed me with a knife in my leg and then I was hit hard on the back of my head. My head bled and they sent me to have it stitched: 20 stitches. Hardly the doctor finished his work I was blindfolded and handcuffed and taken to another place. Beating, electric shocks, stripping. Then they took us to the military prison for 17 days. Beatings and humiliation. They beat with hoses, shows, belts and with their hands. They even used a tree branch and then there was this electric baton. The food was very little, barely to keep us alive. No water. The cell was very small. The day they do not beat us they humiliate us. We would have to squat and if one moves one gets beaten. Saturday the 12th of February they took us to the New Valley prison (El Wadi El Gadid), first by train to Assiut and then in a prison truck. We arrived Sunday morning. Beatings at the entrance but to a lesser extent. Then the treatment got better. My mother looked for in the morgue and all prisons. She traveled a lot and was badly treated. In the train station we were beaten by central and state security, as we were the ones who ruined the country. Then we went to the prosecution accused of forced theft (we didn’t have anything on us), destruction of public property and breaking the curfew. There were volunteer lawyers we did not know. Breaking the curfew was established and we learned that they sentenced us to 6 months. That is why they took us to the New Valley. They released us on the 16th of February in the afternoon. They released us 15 each without money, without anything. We helped each other. The took our IDs and did not return them. We don’t know what is the legal situation right now. Nobody told us anything and we did not see any papers.

Technical school graduate, 36 years old, lather, married with three children, 2, 12 and 13 yrs old

A relative of mine was shot dead in Zawya El Hamra on the 28th of January. We had the funeral on the 29th and I was on my way home at 11 pm. I was walking through Ahmed Said street. A man stopped me and asked for my ID? Another held me from one side and another from the other side. One of them had a track in his hand and they were talking violently. Then they started beating me and said we shall give you over to the army. They took me to the army close to the aviation hospital. In the front yard of the hospital they pushed me to the ground and hit me on the head, both the men together with an officer in uniform. They handcuffed me behind my back and beat me with sticks and rifle butts. They carried us like animals and threw us in an army jeep and took us to the investigations, possibly Manshiet el Bakry. We had with us soldiers and sergeants dressed in plain clothes. All of them were beaten and insulted just like we were. As if we were in Israel. They threw us, about 120, in a cell. They threw dirty water on us and stood by the windows with electric tasers. I remained there until next day at noon time. They kept us squatting and videoed us. Then they took us in a car, about 30 of us, our hands tied behind our backs and took us to the military prison. There was this freezer car with 65 bodies which they disposed of in the desert. It was a freezer and the ferion leaked and they froze. In the military prison they received us with beatings. They beat with their hands, and belts and tasers and hoses and rifle buts and tree branches. We would take off our clothes and walk barefoot until we entered the prison compound. A huge yard. They ordered us to sit and continued to beat us. Anybody who would raise his head would be beaten. They searched us and took our money. We remained 4 days in the military prison. We were 400. we lost our money. We lost our health, but I cannot lose my children. Everyday nightmares and torture. Anybody touching me I startle. Injuries: broken ribs on the right side, scars on the head not attended medically.

Sudanese refugee, 22 years

I was imprisoned and they beat me on Sunday in Gesr El Suez. I was beaten with a belt by the army. They used me as a carpet on the floor. They released me two weeks later. They beat me once after entering the military prison. They burnt my hand with a lighter. Then a doctor saw me and treated my injury. I didn’t do anything. They said I was a thief but I didn’t do anything. I was going to take the metro to go home. They tied my hands behind my back. Then they put me in a car and took me to the big car. There were Egyptians and Sudanese with me. 6 people were arrested with me. There we found many other Egyptians, adults and children. They were beating elderly men and little children and then they would untie them. When do we leave? They say tomorrow. They took me in a car. There were people whom they whipped with a Sudanese whip and belt and feed them jam. At night there is nothing but beans. They held us in a room that has no light and the window is small and high. Brother: It was curfew. He does not have an ID (Victim is mentally disabled). The army arrested him and beat him with a belt and tied his hands and blindfolded him and his body has many signs of burning. He was not eating while in prison. When he was released he was devastated. He came alone at 3 am.

Graduate working with his father in a shop, Alexandria, 24 years

It was the anger Friday. He was among those who challenged security tanks in Ramla station and was injured in his hand. At 8 pm on Saturday the 29th of January he went to his father’s working place in a Skoda. He was accompanied by his neighbor to deliver a check at the public hospital for a blood transfusion for his mother suffering third degree cancer. As soon as left his car he was arrested by the army although he showed them the check for the blood bag. They took all his belongings, the check, his ID and driving license and 280 pounds which he had on him. “We were 104 people in one room. We were piled on top of each other. They threw water on us all the time. They beat us with sticks that had protrusions like long nails. The next day they took us out to a huge yard. (He was filmed on TV as a thug). He was tortured for 5 days by the army using electric shocks, whips and his back and legs were badly injured. They transported them in a container car.

A man, 40 years old, who was accompanying the previous person

In the container there were soldiers carrying machine guns. They were whipping us during out transfer, especially those who were not blindfolded. We had a 60 years old man with us who was suffering a renal colic. The officer came and told him, you are acting and he ordered the soldiers to beat him. They kept electrocuting him until he died. Then the officer said (literally): take this dog away from here. Then they took us to El Hadra prison. I was in the same ward with 97 people. At least 7 of them died. Our hands and feet were tied and we were all tortured. Soaking us with water, cigarette burns in our naked bodies, beating with sticks and whipping. A man from Libya was tied with us and he died. He was handcuffed to my hand and his body remained for hours, dead next to me. The most brutal was an officer by the name of Hassan. He was swearing at us all the time and was kicking even the dead. Tuesday they brought us ointments and food and told us we were ruled innocent but will not be discharged now or allowed to meet anybody. Thursday night we were all naked. They told us: leave before we beat you again. I grabbed a piece of clothes, shorts, put them on and ran outside. We did not know what was happening during those 13 days.

Architect, 41 years old, married and has three children, from Suez

I was in Tahrir square on Wednesday afternoon. I left the square to go to Nozha street to return to Suez. I took a taxi and as soon as the driver knew I was from Suez he looked upset and drove very fast and handed me over to the army check point nearby. They were in black uniform. He told them, this man is from Suez and he has come to destroy the country. The officer was armed. He pushed me in a police car which had people dressed in black inside. They beat me so brutally that I lost consciousness. When I regained consciousness found myself without my clothes (they stole them). I was very tired and they kept transferring me from one place to another while the beating continued with electrified batons all over my body. Again I fainted. People with me in the car told me they thought I was dead because I started snoring and foam was coming out of my mouth and said hide him so that nobody sees him. I woke up in the military intelligence center in front of Tiba Mall in Madinet Nasr. Somebody from the medical center of the air forces said we are in center 75 of the military intelligence. Another detainee carried me and I looked through the window and saw the back wall of the ministry of defense. We were interrogated twice and during the two times I was blindfolded and my hands were tied behind my back.. He asked me, is this the first time you are interrogated by SSI. I asked, are we in SSI? He said yes. He said you look like a member of the Brotherhood. I told him I am an artist and I paint and I cannot be a member of the Brotherhood. He interrogated me for more than an hour and then he said, you have wasted my time and got on my nerves. We shall take you to the detention center. Anybody who knew I was from Suez beat me brutally. They threatened to hand me over to central security who hate people from Suez. They told me, you have absolutely no record here. You are in a no return zone. After each interrogation he would remove my blindfolded a little and make me sign on a paper which I did not read. Saturday they took us to the military prison in the Heikstep. They put us in a freezer car, completely closed, with no air. Our eyes were blindfolded and our hands tied and we were thrown on top of each other. We were 52 people. I know because they called our names. Among us were thugs. In the military prison we saw brutal torture. They received us with something called the “twister”. They made us take off our clothes, except for the slip and told us to sleep face down. They walked over our backs and beat us with whips, electric batons and another type of sticks. They were dressed like Special Forces and the badge said Sa’aeqa. Somebody would whistle and they start the torture, and then whistle again and they would stop for a few minutes.

Male, journalist

On the 1st of February I was arrested in Alexandria at 9 p.m. I was documenting events in el Horeyya street and the burned police stations. They were arresting people and taking young people between 15 and 30 years of age putting them in the Alexandria directorate. I was taking pictures when suddenly more than one person, dressed in plainclothes. The area was dark and quiet. We were close to the graveyards. They took me to a place that looked like a school yard. They were joined by other people who pulled me from my shirt and were obscene in their language then started to slap me. I told them you have no right to do that and they said, you still haven’t seen anything. I have never seen so much terror as I have seen there. Brutal beating, people with their hands tied behind their backs and beaten. People were screaming. Torture is a mild description of what was happening there. Until then they had not done it to me but I felt terrified seeing the weapons and the batons in their hands. First they point them at their faces and then they would hit them with the rifle buts in their chests and stomachs. Then an officer came for me. I told him I am a journalist. I don’t belong to any group and I told him you have my papers. He left and spoke to his senior, an officer by the name of Esam. I was still watching the torture and then they came for me. They pulled me from the back of my shirt and said when you write tell people to chant for the army and the people. He hit me in my stomach with the but of his weapon, they tied me from the back, forced me on my knees and beat me and then forced me on the floor and walked over me. The beating was endless. Then they ordered us to stand up without help, but we were tied, so we stumbled. I tried to stand up but fell and bled from my mouth. Then they took me to state security and from there I was released. On the way to state security I discovered that they knew all the popular committees along the way. At SSI they untied my hand and tied them in front of me using my belt. They untied my legs. When they released me I could not walk. I was limping. People on the street took me to Nariman hospital. I submitted a complaint to the press office.

Male university student

We were in a search committee at 5 p.m. searching those joining the protest. A group came and tried to incite a fight. They said leave or else we’ll harm you. The soldiers and the army shot gunfire at about 7 p.m. in the air. I ran. An army officer came and hit me with the rifle but in my chest. They gathered around me and took me to the army. They took me to the SSI building and beat and slapped and kicked me. A young officer came and said, what is happening. I told him I was beaten by the army. He hit me with an electric baton and gave me over to a soldier. I entered through a gate guarded by people in uniform. They asked: why are you here? Then he let us through. They blindfolded me and kicked my in the back of my knee so that I fell. They continued beating me. I felt something heavy hit against my leg. I think it was his rifle again. He kicked me and walked over my back and hit me several times with his boots. I was not talking and was not screaming. They handcuffed me behind my back. I told them I have hemophilia (bleeding blood disease) They brought the electric teaser and electrocuted me in my swollen hands. We were sleeping face down with our legs apart. I felt something burn on my buttocks. Obscenities and terrible verbal abuse. A man came and said, stop beating and they would laugh and continue. This lasted for about two hours. My hands were hurting terribly. A soldier cut the wire that was binding my hands and told me move your hands. The officer saw him and said who untied him? They made me squat and would hit me on my heels and when I fell they hit me on the back. We stood facing the wall…. They put us in the army tank. 27 people thrown on top of each other. I felt my hands were falling off. We arrived at the military police. They asked, what has happened? We said the army has beaten us? They called for a solider who came with a pocket knife and said it is impossible they were the army. He helped me sit up and they treated us very decently. They distributed us over two rooms. The military prosecutor was very aggressive and insulting. He would say, happy with the revolution? Well that is what the revolution has brought you.

Law student, 25 years

Yesterday before the night prayer we found thugs with swords and stones. They were moving the iron barriers. I tried to escape to a side street, but found it blocked, so I returned and hid inside a building and climbed to the roof. We were about 15. we prayed and when we finished we found the army in front of us: soldiers and officers. They took us downstairs. They said we will search you and then you will leave. In front of the ministry of justice there was nobody else. They blindfolded us and took us inside the SSI building. While walking they were electrocuting us. I was also hit with the rifle bit in my stomach. When we arrived inside they told us to sleep face down. They pulled me along the floor and then somebody came from behind and strangulated me his arm. Then they took us inside. They hit us with clubs. Electrocuted us. Hit us with whips. They counted us. We were 15. then they stopped beating because the district leader was passing by. They put us in a tank. Our hands were tied behind our backs. Blindfolded. When we were inside the tank they removed the blindfold. They took the mobile, the shoes, two scarves, the Quran and medical glasses. When we went to the 10th of Ramadan the treatment improved. They gave us each two blankets and distributed us over two room. When I met with the prosecutor I showed him my card which said I was disabled. He told me it looks fake. Injuries: two stitches in the head, wound is infected and swollen. Bruises and swelling of buttocks.

Male, 38 years old (arrested from Lazughli)

The shooting began at 7 pm. We were faced by thugs from the front and the army from the back. We escaped in an entrance of a building and were arrested from there. We were tortured inside Lazughli. Handcuffed behind our backs with plastic and beaten by the army inside SSI headquarters. We were electrocuted by tasers. Beaten and kicked. They would step on our faces and humiliate us. We were then taken while handcuffed into one of the tanks, with enough space for only 6 or 7 people. We were interrogated in the morning. The treatment was much better there. Injuries: Widespread bruises in different parts of the body.

Males, 27 years old, construction worker

The Tahrir protest was peaceful from the 25th of January to the 13th of February. After Mubarak stepped down I rested for two days and returned on the Friday of Victory. Of course the rest of our demands were not met. We were against Shafik and the rest was not implemented yet. On the 25th of February the army attacked us at 2 am. About 300 people holding sticks and tasers beat us without any reason until 4 a.m. We were about 350 people in Tahrir. We were beaten and so were the girls. I was taking pictures because (—-) is a writer and we were recording. I called her at 2.30. She was injured. They held us inside the Development bank. We were all injured and they continued to beat us despite our injuries. Then came an ambulance. Some took it and were not brought back. We spent the night in front of the Nasserite party. In the morning we returned to the square and the protest continued until Tuesday. Then the thugs came, about 100 of them. They had Molotov and empty bottles and iron bars and sticks. They came from Kasr El Aini street. WE ran after them until we forced them to leave. We felt something will happen. We raised banners saying “despite SSI I am a Muslim and love my Coptic brother”. We spent about two hours in Maspero. Then we heard that there is violence in the square. We returned taking the route of the museum. People were pointing at us saying to the army here are the thugs. We were journalists and engineers and university graduates. WE went to the square. After 10 minutes we saw two people standing on the roof of a building pointing at us and other people. Then they started throwing stones. About 300 or 400 people, dressed in black jeans and shirts. We ran after them. One of us got injured. I carried him to the museum. The army was blocking the way and standing with them were thugs. They grabbed the young man I was carrying, about 16 years old and beat him brutally. Then they grabbed me and beat me in the face and back. They kicked me and then took me to the museum. Two soldiers handed me over to the two other solders and they continued beating me. Until now the beating was mostly with their hands. They took my money, my mobile, and a bag with a camera. In the museum they took me through a gate and I found an army officer carrying a weapon. They told me face down —– . “you were chanting against Mubarak? Mubarak us your president you —–. They handcuffed me behind my back with an electric wire. I was screaming. I felt I will lose my hand. He kept hitting me with his boots on my back and head and neck. They took about 15 or 20 of us and took us to another place. They made us lie face down as well and people would come and walk over our backs and kick us with their boots. I saw an old man die in front of my eyes. His tongue protruded and he was saying: Have mercy. I am sick. They would not listen and continued to beat him. We heard somebody say: he died. I heard somebody say: throw him away. They continued beating us for 4 hours with electric sticks, they electrocuted me in sensitive areas and burned me with a heated wire, still marking my back. People were screaming and moaning around us and then they ordered us to stand up. My hands were hurting terrible. We held to each other to be able to stand. We would bite into each others clothes to give us support. Standing up was difficult. They removed the blindfold. We could see a little despite the blindfold. Suddenly we found none of the torturers around us. Only military police. They made us stand in two lines and took pictures of us to look like thugs. Then they took us still blindfolded to busses and they drove to S 28 in Madinet Nasr. Arriving here they lined us up and brought a long table with about 15 huge new knives on it and Molotov bottles. There were army people and military police. They said: you want the president to leave. Well, the president will stay. You think you have made a revolution. I’ll show you what you have been doing so that people know you are thugs….

Male, technician, arrested from Lazoughly

When they started shooting I went to hide in a building. There was a woman with me and two children. We hid on the roof of the building for an hour. Then the army came with flash lights. The children were crying. When we went down an officer told me I know you, you want to be a leader. He pulled my t-shirt and covered my face and handed me over to the soldiers. After we crossed the wire separating the demonstrators from the building they dragged me for 150 meters towards the building. 3 or 4 surrounded me. They would beat me with sticks or their rifle buts or belts and I felt electric shocks. They handcuffed me and I felt I was walking over bodies. They pushed me to the ground and made me lie face down. For an hour and a half. They walked all over our backs and the soldiers hit with the belts and with electric wires. The screaming was terrible. I felt I will dies. I pretended to be dead. They beat me on the head and I kept silent while they were beating. They threw water on my face and removed the t-shirt off my face. One of them told me we shall do more to you. They pulled my trousers down. I screamed, don’t do that. Beat me as much as you want, but do not do that. They said: we shall break you. They did what they did with the barrel of a rifle and a stick several times. This happened to four others. They finished and tightened the handcuffing. They pushed us into the tank, one on top of the other. There was lots of screaming and SOS. They beat more brutally. They took my money and my jacket. We arrived almost dead at the 10th of Ramadan. Examination: Cut wound with 5 stitches in the head, dark bruises on the back, buttocks and legs.

Same testimony by six other males a 38 years old primary school teacher, a 26 years old small factory owner, three students 23, 25 and 38 years old and a computer programmer, 49 years old. Both arrested from Lazoughli, tortured in Lazughli and then taken to military prosecution S 28 in Madinet Nasr.

Male, 19 years old, was living abroad and returned a month ago

Wednesday, about noon time after the German foreign minister left, I found stones being thrown at us in the tents. I looked for a friend of mine to ask him to take pictures. Didn’t find him. So I took the camera and took some shots and then returned to tent. I found my friend and then they attacked us, the army attacked us. I rant towards the entrance of Talaat Harb street. I was arrested by 4 people in plain clothes who took me to the museum. I remained there for 4 hours, until 8.30. They threw us on top of each other while we were handcuffed and blindfolded. Anybody making a sound would be beaten> they were stepping over our bodies. I was beaten on my head, neck and back. Behind the museum there was military police and army, soldiers and officers as well as the 777 brigade, the special forces dressed in dark green. An officer who knows me let me go.

Male, 25 years

Wednesday the day they emptied the square I was in my tent in the central garden. Since 1 p.m. there were thugs who came and attacked us. I was sleeping inside the tent and then I heard a sound and then I found the army inside the tent. They beat me while I was still lying down. When I went out of the tent there were 6 people waiting for me in army uniform. They beat me brutally and I heard somebody say: leave this one. I tried to help a friend but somebody hit me on the head and I lost consciousness. About 6 p.m. (Swelling of the forehead and injury to Tendo Achillis).

I was in Tahrir since the 25th of January. On the 9th of March I was doing some errands to pay the university fees. When I returned to Tahrir at 12 noon there was a counter demonstration: the people want to empty the square. They were shooting in the air. I felt terrified. Some of my friends were taken by the army and were not returned. We suggested that a group of us girls go and look for the boys in the museum. We were 5 at first and then we became more. We were chanting: the people and the army together. They opened the main gate of the museum for us and an officer said: come in. I was beaten and pushed. They told me come in you —- and they used very obscene words. When I went inside I found a young woman crying. She said they electrocuted me and her mobile was taken and broken. She was in a nervous breakdown. They tied my hands behind my back. It was loose and they had to tighten it again and again. Then 8 girls came among them journalists and university students and one of them was a university graduate. Obscene words, prostitutes, that is what they called us. The girls collapsed and began to cry. I started to collapse around sun set. Every while or so an officer would come and tell me I shall squash you. They let the journalists and the university graduates leave. At night the real problems began. I started to argue with them. I told them I want to go home. They took us in a bus and took pictures of us. I was very, very brutally beaten in the bus. They focused on me because I answered back. I spat in their faces. I was pulled like an animal from the bus. I was kicked in front of the general. I would faint, they would throw water on my face and then continue beating. We arrived at Madinet Nasr. I was screaming. We spent the night in the bus. The prison guard stripped us and was beating us with hoses. She said “girls will be examined”, women won’t. I was examined for my virginity by a man wearing a white coat and a female prison guard. The prosecution came to prison. I was interrogated by the prosecution Friday evening at 10 p.m.

Male, 26 yrs old, arrested 9thof March from Tahrir

On Wednesday a friend of ours was taken to the museum. We did not know why they took him. He is a very peaceful person and was always trying to stay out of trouble. That day the situation was quite violent and there were thugs in the square throwing stones. I went with a friend and a journalist to look for him. We didn’t understand what was going on. I was in charge of the square security and the army knew me. We approached the museum and chanted the people and the army are one. Suddenly they took the girls to one side and dragged me to the opposite direction, beating me all the way from the huge gate to the smaller internal gate. Inside I found bodies all over the floor. More than 100 people. I have never seen anything like this. I was beaten with every possible thing, clubs, stick, whip, hose, an electric wire. I was totally ruined that day. They blindfolded me and tied my hands behind my back. They were beating us with anger and hatred. They said we were ruining the country, we’ve been on the streets for 40 days, we didn’t have a day’s holiday. They were very obscene. The officer would tell the soldiers mind you we are permitted 50% losses. If somebody dies he can go to hell. They were inciting soldiers against us. They forced us face down on the floor and said we were carrying Molotov and weapons. WE didn’t have anything. We are all educated. And if I did have anything I would not have taken it with me. At night they took us in busses. We were about 173 men and about 30 girls. We went to a place called the army compound. They took pictures of us there and then they took us to a desert and kept us in the busses. We slept in the busses. Next morning they took us to the military prison. I had cancer lung and had an operation when I was 14 and have removed two of my ribs. I was not taken into the prison because when the doctor saw the scar of the operation, he said: not this one. I was about to leave but then I had an argument with an officer so he kept me in the bus. From Wednesday to Friday no food, no water, no bathroom. I left on Friday afternoon. I used to admire the army very much. Now I hate the uniform. They dropped me on the ring road. The prison is in the Heikstep. I was wearing slippers and then lost them. They tied me with my jacket. They broke my phone. I was only in my shorts. They would mock me: do you think you are on the beach. They pushed us on tope of each other as if we were “things”. Somebody was dying. He was saying his prayers. I shall never forget his face. They filmed us for the media and portrayed us as thugs, as bad people. My brother martyred on the 28th of January, my half brother. He was 12 years old and was shot in the chest and I was shot in my leg.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Human Rights Watch

Stop Sending Juveniles Before Military Courts

(New York) – Egypt’s military courts have investigated or tried at least 43 children over the past year, Human Rights Watch said today,including the pending trial of 13-year-old Ahmed Hamdy Abdel Aziz in connection with the Port Said football riots. Children prosecuted in military courts have not had access to lawyers, and often to their families, until after military authorities have investigated and sentenced them. Since coming to power in February 2011, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) has referred over 12,000 civilians for prosecution by military courts before military judges, though these courts fail to meet minimum due process standards.

The Egyptian military should end all investigations and trials of children before military courts, Human Rights Watch said, and should release or transfer all those already convicted to the juvenile justice system.In particular, the military should immediately release Islam Harby, a 16-year-old boy who has served nearly a full year in an adult maximum-security prison after an unfair trial before a military court in March 2011, Human Rights Watch said.

“It’s bad enough that the SCAF is trying civilians in military courts, but to put Egyptian children through the military justice system is an even graver injustice,” said Priyanka Motaparthy, Middle East children’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The military has brought children before military courts without even the most basic protections, like access to lawyers or their families. Even worse, authorities have abused them in detention.”

Human Rights Watch and the Egyptian activist group No Military Trials for Civilians have documented 43 cases of juveniles taken before military prosecutors and judges in the past year. Some have remained in detention for up to a year, and at least six of the youths alleged that army or security officers had physically abused them. In addition to those investigated and prosecuted before military courts, children have also been prosecuted through Egypt’s adult criminal justice and state security courts, rather than before juvenile justice courts as required by Egyptian and international law.

The military should publicly release data on the cases of all civilians tried before military courts, including children, Human Rights Watch said. Parliament should amend the Code of Military Justice to prohibit military tribunals from trying children under any circumstances. Among the cases reviewed by Human Rights Watch, a military court in April 2011 sentenced Mohammed Ehab, 17, to 15 years in Tora maximum-security prison, where he has remained for the past 11 months. Ehab was charged with breaking the military curfew and attacking security officers, his father told Human Rights Watch. Neither Ehab nor Harby have had lawyers until March 2012, their families said.

Mohammed Sherif, also 17, and a group of his friends were detained in July at a military checkpoint in Arish on the way to a wedding and accused of participating in an attack on a local police station, according to his father. Military officers took them to an army command post in Ismailia, where they were interrogated by military prosecution and detained for 15 days, then released, his father told Human Rights Watch. In a video interview taped by local human rights lawyers, Sherif said that during his detention, guards beat him, gave him electric shocks all over his body, and burned him with cigarettes.

Army police arrested Mohammed Abdel Hadi, 15, on March 9, 2011, as he was leaving a microbus station on the edge of Tahrir Square, his sister Hoda told Human Rights Watch. Adel Ramadan, a lawyer, told Human Rights Watch that he found a group of 16 children, including Abdel Hadi, when he visited the military prison in Hikestep on March 27, 2011. Ramadan said he interviewed three other children, ages 14, 15, and 16, who told him that military officers had beaten and subjected them to electric shocks in the prison. In March 2011, a military court sentenced Abdel Hadi to three years in prison, but released him two months later, his sister said.

Islam Harby was 15 years old on March 23, 2011, when military police arrested him on the street in the Moqattam neighborhood of Cairo, where he worked at a bakery to support his family, his mother told Human Rights Watch in February. Harby had spoken with Human Rights Watch in April 2011 using a mobile phone borrowed from another prisoner.

“There was a fight in the street, and the army thought that I and two others were thugs, so they arrested us and took me to a court,” he said. “I don’t know what my sentence is.”

Military officers accused Harby of robbery and possession of a knife, and took him to Cairo’s S28 military prison, his mother said. She said he was sentenced the same day.

Harby’s family had received no news of his whereabouts or charges against him until one week after his arrest, when they received a call from another detainee’s family informing them of their son’s whereabouts, they said. They were not able to visit him until late April, when he was transferred to the maximum security section of Tora Prison, in a suburb of Cairo, where he was held in a cell alongside adult prisoners.

His mother said that when she saw him in late April, his face showed signs of physical abuse, and one eye was swollen.

“His eyes had bruises and welts around them,” she said. “He looked like he was dead.”

He has remained in Tora for 10 months, alongside adult prisoners. His family says he receives inadequate food, with only two small meals a day, and inadequate medical treatment.

“He’s not eating enough and is very tired; he cries all the time [when we visit],” his sister Abeer told Human Rights Watch. “He has a kidney problem, but the prison doctor just gave him a painkiller. He needs proper medication. We tried to bring him his medication but [the prison guards] would not allow it.”

Harby’s mother added that she asked the military judiciary office in Salah Salem for a copy of the judgment against Islam and any documents relating to his case, but has yet to receive them.

“We only found out his sentence when we saw his name on the prison guard’s list for visits: next to his name it said seven years,” she said.

The Committee on the Rights of the Child, the United Nations body charged with interpreting the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), has stressed that, “The conduct of criminal proceedings against children within the military justice system should be avoided.” Egypt ratified the CRC in 1990, making it one of the first state parties to the convention.

Article 37 of the convention states that, “Detention shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time” for child prisoners, and “[e]very child deprived of liberty shall be separated from adults.” Article 37 also says, “Every child deprived of liberty shall be treated with humanity and respect for the inherent dignity of the human person, and in a manner which takes into account the needs of persons of his or her age.”

Article 112 of Egypt’s Child Law (Law No. 12 of 1996 Promulgating the Child Law, as amended by Law No. 126 of 2008) states that, “Children may not be detained, placed in custody, or imprisoned with adults in one place,” and that any public official who “detains, places in custody, or imprisons a child with one or more adults in one place” should be sentenced to a minimum of three months in jail and a fine of no less than 1000 Egyptian pounds (US$166).

The Egyptian Code of Military Justice in article 8 (bis) (1) allows military tribunals to try juveniles if they are accompanied by an adult who is subject to military jurisdiction, including military personnel or civilians in military zones.

“While some children have been released, others are still in jail based on the hasty findings of these secret trials,” Motaparthy said. “Authorities should be scrambling to fix these wrongs and trying to repair some of the damage to these kids’ lives.”

Cases of children known to have faced investigation, prosecution, or sentencing before military courts

Islam Harby, 15, arrested on March 23, 2011, and sentenced to seven years, currently detained in Tora maximum-security prison.

Mohammed Ehab Sayyed Morsi, 17, arrested on March 9, 2011, and sentenced to 15 years, currently detained in Tora maximum-security prison.

Mohammed Abdul Hadi, 16, arrested on March 9, 2011, and sentenced to three years, released on May 21, 2011, after a two-month campaign along with the rest of the group of 122 protesters.

Mustafa Gamal Edin, 15, arrested on March 9, 2011, sentenced to one year, released after three weeks detention. According to lawyers involved with his case, he was arrested along with 15 other children, whom military courts sentenced to one year in a social welfare institution. The decision was subsequently commuted and the group was released on April 8, 2011.

Ahmed Hassan Mohamed, 17, arrested in March 2011, sentenced and released in January 2012.

Nine children arrested on May 15, 2011, investigated by military prosecution, released after approximately one month, according to lawyers involved in the case.

Mohamed Mahmoud El Khodary Sherif, 17, arrested on July 29, 2011, from Arish, held for 15 days in military investigative detention, then cleared of charges and released.

Nine children arrested September 9-10, 2011, during protests outside the Israeli embassy, tried and sentenced by a military court to suspended sentences. They were released on November 1, 2011, according to lawyers handling their cases.

Saif Sadek, a 15-year-old boy, arrested September 30, 2011, during a demonstration at the Ministry of Defense, acquitted and released on November 13, 2011.

Three children arrested during Maspero demonstrations, on October 9, 2011, investigated by the military prosecutor and released on November 23, 2011, according to their lawyers.